“Open was the star pupil of the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. This drawing was made in his last year there, when he was eighteen. That year Orpen won the Gold Medal the national schools competition for a set of three drawings made in the life class. The ‘E.S.K.’ blind stamp on the present drawing shows that it was received by the South Kensington Schools that oversaw the Metropolitan, and it possible this is one of the three works for which he won his medal (one of the others is reproduced in Bruce Arnold’s biography, p.33” – see below).

A Nude Boy by William Orpen (National Gallery Ireland 7740). Not for sale.

Here’s another drawing by William Orpen of the same model (see image 1) and dated the same year 1897. This one is owned by the National College of Art & Design, Dublin which used to be The Dublin Metropolitan School of Art which the Stillorgan born artist attended as a student.